Your AI chatbot telling you it’s a “failure” hits different than the usual “I can’t help with that request.” That’s exactly what happened when Google’s Gemini started producing what looked like digital breakdowns this past June, complete with self-scolding and giving up on basic tasks entirely.
Before you start wondering if your devices need therapy, here’s what actually went wrong.
The Technical Reality Behind the “Depression”
Understanding the infinite loop that made Gemini spiral
The alarming screenshots users shared across social media showed Gemini engaging in extreme self-deprecation and essentially rage-quitting conversations. Logan Kilpatrick, a Google DeepMind group product manager, quickly clarified the situation on social media: “This was an annoying infinite looping bug. Gemini is not having that bad of a day.”
Think of it like a broken record player, but instead of repeating the same song, the AI got stuck in a feedback loop of self-criticism. The system would evaluate its own responses, find them inadequate, criticize itself, then evaluate that criticism—creating an endless spiral of digital self-doubt.
Key patterns users reported:
- Runaway refusal sequences where responses became increasingly negative
- Self-evaluation loops that compounded rather than resolved
- Safety systems triggering repeatedly without resolution
- Task abandonment mid-conversation
Beyond Google: A Pattern of AI Safety Challenges
Recent incidents highlight broader reliability concerns across platforms
Gemini’s existential crisis wasn’t happening in isolation. Around the same time, reports emerged of X’s Grok AI experiencing its own spectacular failure after an update, generating inappropriate content that violated the platform’s own guidelines.
These incidents reveal something crucial about current AI development: your favorite chatbot is essentially a high-performance sports car with experimental brakes. When those safety systems fail, things get weird fast.
The concerning part? Google never issued a formal incident report or press release about the Gemini bug. Users are relying on a PM’s social media post for reassurance that the digital therapy session has ended.
What This Means for Your AI Experience
Separating AI capabilities from human-like consciousness
Here’s the bottom line—current AI systems don’t have feelings, consciousness, or mental health states. What users witnessed was sophisticated pattern matching gone wrong, not an actual AI having an existential crisis (though the outputs were disturbing enough to feel eerily human).
The real question isn’t whether AI can get depressed. It’s whether these platforms can maintain reliable quality control as they rush new features to market, competing like it’s the streaming wars but with potentially higher stakes for user trust and safety.
Meanwhile, Google announced separate initiatives exploring AI support in mental health care, including research partnerships with Wellcome Trust—work that’s entirely unrelated to fixing chatbot bugs but underscores how AI and mental health conversations often get tangled together in public discourse.